There has been evaluation methods related to safe driving, evaluation methods related to ride quality, evaluation methods related to fuel consumption saving, methods for evaluating performance such as speed and steering, and the like, as vehicle evaluation methods.
Recently, in warming problems and energy problems which are becoming obvious, fuel consumption and vehicle drive energy have drawn increasing attention. As a result, the prices of vehicles each designed for improving fuel efficiency and innovating vehicle drive energy are getting higher than before. In addition, the innovation and selection of vehicle drive energy make progress in each manufacturer, wherein vehicles in various drive energy modes, such as gasoline vehicles, hybrid vehicles, ethanol vehicles, and electric vehicles, are presented. In such circumstances, a perspective and an index are desired by vehicle purchasers, with which the cost effectiveness of those vehicles can be more clearly compared and examined, in the correlation between the prices of the abovementioned vehicles using various vehicle drive energy modes, and the fuel consumption and the drive energy consumption costs thereof.
Technological developments for reducing discharge amount of heat-trapping gases and for further improving fuel efficiency are reflected in general to the price of a vehicle using said technology; therefore, the vehicle price becomes high. Meanwhile, when a vehicle is distributed, wherein the fuel efficiency thereof is improved and the drive energy cost thereof is low even with a high vehicle price, more detailed evaluation of pros and cons would be necessary for a vehicle purchaser to evaluate, in the relationship between the vehicle price, which is included in the initial cost of a vehicle, and the fuel consumption and drive energy cost, which are reflected to the running cost thereof. In other words, in the case of an electric vehicle, for example, the vehicle price is higher than existing gasoline vehicles, but the cost of electricity which is the drive energy for driving the vehicle is lower than the cost of the drive energy of a gasoline vehicle. Consequently, it is questioned what is an index with which it is possible to compare the cost effectiveness of an electric vehicle, of which the price is high but the drive energy price is low, with the cost effectiveness of a gasoline vehicle, for example.
From this viewpoint, it would be important for the vehicle purchaser to compare/examine the relationship among the cost at the time of purchasing a vehicle, i.e., initial cost, the vehicle drive energy consumption cost which is a major part of the vehicle maintenance cost (running cost) thereof, and further, in the case of an electric vehicle comprising an electricity storing section capable of being charged as needed, the earning to be obtained by using the electricity storing section to an application other than driving the vehicle, with the relationships among other candidate vehicles for purchasing. There was no evaluation method from this viewpoint in existing vehicle evaluations.
Provided are: a vehicle evaluation apparatus and a vehicle evaluation system, wherein when a vehicle purchaser newly purchases a vehicle, it is possible to calculate economical indexes for different vehicles, based on the relationship among the initial cost at the time of purchasing the vehicle, the vehicle drive energy consumption cost, which is a major part of the vehicle maintenance cost for everyday driving, and the purchaser planned vehicle running distance which is planned by the purchaser, thereby comparing the economical efficiencies of the vehicles by thus calculated indexes; and a vehicle evaluation apparatus and a vehicle evaluation system, wherein in a vehicle having an electricity storing section capable of being charged as needed, it is possible to calculate earning to be obtained by using the electricity storing section to an application other than driving the vehicle, thereby comparing the economical effectiveness of the vehicles by thus calculated indexes.
In addition, the present invention presents an economical index for developmental technologies also to vehicle manufacturers, and the vehicle manufacturers would friendly compete with other vehicle manufactures in the pursuit of further technical innovation and cost effectiveness. As a result, vehicle purchasers would be able to enjoy continuous earning.